The objection we hear most: "I've got 25 techs, and switching how all of them get paid at once is scary."
It is a big change. But the risk runs the other way. On hourly your best techs are capped no matter how good they are. The company down the road is paying for performance, your people know it, and the ones with options are the ones who leave.
So don't wait. But don't switch them all at once either.
One customer we've worked with for about a year started with a small batch of installers, then added two more, a veteran and a younger tech who'd been asking for more money.
The people on the plan started taking home more than they had on hourly. Then other techs began going to management asking when they'd get moved over.
Another example is Ron Williams, who runs Benjamin Franklin Plumbing and One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning out of Ocean City, MD. He decided to move his plumbers over to performance pay first to test the results before rolling it out across both companies. Now, his average ticket has doubled, and his HVAC techs are asking when they can move onto a similar plan.
If you don't want to change pay across the company in one go, start with a small group. Run shadow payroll alongside it, so no one's check changes yet and everyone can see what they'd have earned on hourly next to the new plan.
After a few weeks or months, look at what the data says. If your key metrics moved and your techs like it, roll it out. If nothing moved and your best people didn't like it, kill it.
Want to see what performance pay looks like for your business? Book a call and we'll pull your numbers + show you which techs to start with. Grab a time here.
Best,
Ryan
P.S. Reply to this email if it's easier. It comes straight to me, and we can get a time lined up.